Brat Reunion Re: Tax Credit; Virginia Meetings

En route to the first meeting of an expanded Board of Directors in Washington DC, our team met with key people in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Haleigh Herring, who coordinates our fundraising and scheduling, met with Advisory Board Member Curtis Colgate (photo left, Advisory Board announcement here). John Pudner had a great reunion with two people who were key to Take Back’s proposal to bring back the Reagan-era tax credit.

In speeches, Pudner tells the story of the first big fundraising event for Congressman Dave Brat, and Friday he reunited with the fundraiser (Mike Rubino, left) and campaign manager (Zac Werrell right) who turned out the 200 people for that event which ultimately led to the shocking upset of Congressional Majority Leader Eric Cantor. The three discussed the possibility of bringing back the Reagan-era tax credit for small political donations, an idea that was hatched when the three were together at that Richmond event.

It was at that that first big fundraising event for Brat that some who started to write checks to the campaign, hesitated and then asked, “This is tax deductible, right?” When told that was not the case, they put away their checkbooks.

The fact is that if people had asked that question in the 1980s, they would have been told, “Yes, you can claim a check for up to $200 on your tax return.” Letting each contributor keep the first $200 they would have given the IRS and instead giving it to a candidate of their choosing, who shares their philosophy also encourages people to participate in the election process.

The four states that use a similar system (Virginia, Oregon, Minnesota and Ohio) had 68 percent participation in the last Presidential election compared to the 58 percent participation average nationwide. Newsmax reporter John Gizzi asked about this concept at a White House briefing and was told that the White House would look into it.

Rubino later kicked off the fundraising efforts for Take Back Our Republic. Both Rubino and Werrell now have successful careers in the political arena, though Take Back cannot include their political candidates in this post to ensure it does not look like we are promoting their candidates – only talking to both about the momentum for the tax credit…and how it all began for Take Back Our Republic.